1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink-jet recording process and an ink-jet recording apparatus, which permits the formation of high-quality images excellent in water fastness without impairing fixing ability on various recording media such as paper, cloths, resin films, leather and metals, and an image formed article obtained by using the process and apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
An ink-jet recording system has heretofore been widely used in printers, copying machines and the like because of slight noise, low running cost, possible high-speed recording, easy miniaturization of apparatus, easy color recording and the like. However, the ink-jet recording system has involved problems that when images are formed on recoding media referred to as the so-called plain paper by these recording apparatuser to which the ink-jet recording system is applied, the resulting images are insufficient in water fastness, and that when color images are provided, it is difficult to achieve, in particular, the formation of high-density images free of feathering and the formation of images free of bleeding between different colors at the same time, and so color images having good fastness properties and image quality cannot be obtained.
To cope with these problems, in recent years, inks in which water fastness has been imparted to a coloring material contained therein have come to be put to practical use as a method for enhancing the water fastness of the resulting images. However, these inks have involved the following demerits. Their water fastness is not yet sufficient, and moreover these inks tend to cause clogging at orifices of a recording head because they are difficult in principle to be dissolved in water after drying. The prevention of such clogging results in the complicated construction of the apparatus.
Many techniques for improving the fastness properties of recorded images have heretofore been disclosed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 53-24486 discloses a technique for enhancing the wet color fastness in which dyed matter is subjected to a post treatment, thereby fixing dyes in the form of lake.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-43733 discloses a recording method using an ink-jet recording system, wherein at least two components, the film-forming ability of which is increased when they are brought into contact with each other, are used. According to this method, printed matter, on which a film firmly bonded has been formed by bringing the components into contact with each other on a recording medium, is obtained. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-150396 also discloses a process of applying a water-proofing agent which can form lake with a dye after conducting ink-jet recording using a water-based dye ink.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-128862 discloses an ink-jet recording process in which a position of an image to be recorded is identified in advance, and a recording ink and a treating ink are applied to the position to overlap each other, thereby conducting recording. A process in which the treating ink is applied prior to the application of the recording ink, a process in which the treating ink is applied to overlap the recording ink applied previously, and a process in which the recording ink is applied to overlap the treating ink applied previously, and the treating ink is further applied to overlap the recording ink are disclosed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 63-60783 and 64-69381 also disclose similar recording processes.
However, according to these processes, the color of the recorded images may be changed by the treating ink to a hue with a metallic luster like a crystallized dye, which is called "bronzing phenomenon". Such a phenomenon may become a problem in some cases. In addition, a problem of evenness may also arise upon solid printing in some cases.
The documents described above do not disclose anything about the optimum ratio between the amounts of the treating ink and the recording ink to be ejected. None of them disclose anything about the construction of a recording head characteristic of an ink-jet recording apparatus, print mode required to enhance the quality of recorded images, and the like.